To be so worried about Universal Credit?

[BoldComicSans]

I've had a letter telling me I'm being changed to online Universal Credit.

I've set my account up but it's forced me to give every detail again and is asking me to upload evidence of everything!

It also says I now need to book an appointment at the job centre. I've been on it for about 2 years now so they already have all my details and all my evidence.

I am now panicking because my monthly payment is due next week. And they mess up payments already and often forget to pay my childcare element.

If they do not pay my childcare help next week I then cannot use my childminder. This then means I cannot get to work. Im so worried that such a frustrating system can lose me my childcare and my full time job.

They advertise is as helping parents work, but it feels like the opposite.

I feel sick with anxiety at the thought of what is more than likely to come next week. Plus I can only go to the job centre on my lunch hour which means there are no appointments free for weeks.

I get paid different amount each month because some months I work more weekends or bank holidays and my milage is different each month.

Ivykaty. Where does it say that people earning £25k a year won’t qualify?

Just popping in, not to argue about UC but to say that actually the department don't pay their staff early December. I know some people are worrying about early playdates etc and saying the department could be causing their own staff issues - we get paid on the last working day of the month, Christmas or no. So for all their failings etc they are clear on the December pay dates across the board, including for their own staff

Not much use to the many people who don’t get paid on exactly the same date.

my ex worked for a company that always paid on the last day of the month come rain or shine unless that day fell on a weekend so he would get paid 30 November then on New Years Eve.

some companies do just stick to the same dates It will be easier for their workers in regard to this.

Hmmwhatatado try the calculator for benefits

I finally got round to calling UC this morning to make the job centre appointment. Was told I won't get paid tomorrow unless I go to the job centre today.

They have also said that the evidence I have uploaded onto the portal they cannot open because it is in pdf format so they can't use it as evidence.

I only have it in that format as the childminder emailed it to me. I don't have a printer. So I may now not get paid tomorrow as I should.

My eldest after being okay yesterday was sick again this morning, so I now have to take my ill child to the job centre with all my ID and tenancy agreement and hope by showing them my childcare evidence and wage slips they will pay me tomorrow.

Seriously fed up with all the jumping through hopes whilst working full time and being a single mother.

Bold - you have to check anything on your to do list and get it done. if there is anything outstanding it will hold up money being released.

@bold does your phone do screenshots as they accept those? That's how I have verified all my CC providers and pay etc. X

I can show them the emails on my phone but don't know if they will accept that. Feeling so frustrated. As if I don't have enough to deal with in life.

The limit for UC is dependant on your circumstances people earning over 25k can still get it, my entitlement is £317.82 for being a single person over 25 + £277.08 for having one child born before april 17 and £646.35 for max childcare costs and £555.49 for LHA (housing) that is total entitlement £1796.74

This is withdrawn at 63% so £1796.74/63 x 100 = £2850.79, if I earn less than this per month I can still get UC. This is a post tax income of £34,209 per year which is a pre tax income of £55k a year, basically I lose my child benefit before I lose my UC.

Even taking the childcare out of the equation it is a £1150.39 UC entitlement, if I earn more than £1,826 per month I lose UC which is a pre tax wage of £30k per year

nb if I didn't have a child then I would have to earn less than 18k per year to qualify

Sorry ivy but you are incorrect!

I don't know what limits they have for earnings I just know that for every £1 I earn after about £200 they take off 65p or 75p of my allowance for each £1 that I earn. So from an allowance of about £2k after my full time wage I get about £500.

Its 63p per £1 after the first £198.

in fact if you were a hypothetical family renting in inner London with a school age (5-16) child and a younger set of twins between 1-3 (after maternity leave but before free childcare) where both parents work full time and therefore require full time child care for the twins entitlement is £498.89 for the couple £277.08 for older child £231.67 times 2 for the twins (as multiple births are an exception to the 2 child limit) £1540.21 for a 3 bedroom place (lha rate). £1108.04 for the twins childcare that's £3887.56.

They between them could earn £6170 post tax per month and still qualify - that is £126k per year between them either £63k per year each or £15k for one and £111k for the other or any combination inbetween.

These are people who would have been on tax credits so yes there are a lot of families earning up to £100k entitled to UC, that will not be used to jumping thorough the hoops that UC demand, who knows what their reaction would be?

But they can't have more than £16k savings or it all goes away

The tories are bastards, the thing is, they know that UC causes huge upheaval and upset, but they aren’t prepared to change it. That means they WANT people to suffer. They knew what they were doing when they created it. Truly disgusting.

rosetulip - Tax credits could also cause huge upheaval and upset when people get hit by huge overpayments and their payments suddenly stopped completely !

Hmmwhatatado

I know people on under £25k that don’t qualify for U.C. And they have children

I.C . Is less than £16k in saving, much less

ivykaty44. It's all to do with rent and childcare costs how much Uc you get on a higher income. I guess if those on 25k own their own home they may still not qualify although would get the higher work allowance of £409.

@ivykaty between £6k and £16k of savings there is a tariff income of £4.35 per month of each £250 (or part of) of savings, you can still be getting IS with savings of £15,999 but you will have £174 taken out of the UC, (which may nill your claim if your payment is low enough)

Also my calculations have always assumed renting, if the people you know are not able to claim the housing element or the childcare element then yes the threshold goes down eg a 2 parent 1 child family gets the couple plus 1 child no child care as one stays home and they are paying a mortgage instead of renting their eligibility is £775.97 so if they earn more than £1621.45 per month which is £26k per year, then yes they don't qualify.

Just because some people don't qualify on £25k does not mean that is the limit.

@BoldComicSans How did you get on?

@BoldComicSans I can convert your pdf files to .docx files if that's helpful?

Sorry.. I now have the stomach bug so haven't replied.

They paid me, correctly, at 6pm. All switched to online now. Work payday tomorrow, that will be fun after a week off